Practical N° 13 "Classroom Management"
Download as DOC, PDF1 like681 views
This document discusses various classroom management techniques for teachers with sections on student and teacher talking time, using students' native language, dealing with mixed-ability classes, large class sizes, and assigning homework. It provides examples of seating arrangements, grouping students, and actions teachers can take regarding issues like students not doing homework or constantly speaking their native language in class. Overall, the document offers advice and strategies for teachers to effectively manage their classroom and engage all students.
Practical N° 13 "Classroom Management"
- 1. Practice II – Camila Roldán & Federico Ramonda Practical N°13 – “Classroom Management” Chapter 3: Managing the classroom C- Student talk and teacher talk 1- In a class of twenty students (working as a whole group) and one teacher, how much speaking time will each student have in a fifty-minute language practice class. The students will have more or less two minutes and a half each or even less if the teacher speaks too. 2- Make an A & D chart for teacher talking time and student talking time in an English lesson. TTT STT Instructions Listen Presentation Repetition Explanation Listen, take down notes & ask questions (Cross) Checking & Feedback Solving an activity (pairs/groups) Share it with an audience Role play of a dialogue D- Using the L1 Rewrite the following statement so that it reflects your own opinion: “Students and teachers should be discouraged from using students’ mother tongue (L1) in the classroom.” Students and teachers should use English as much as possible, speaking in their mother tongue only when it is necessary. Students should be encouraged above all to speak English because it is the only opportunity they get to practice it. Therefore, teachers need to create a fruitful environment where English is heard as much as possible. This means giving instructions in English and a lot of input to students. However, the presence of their L1 cannot be avoided. Teachers should take it as a tool to explain difficult concepts or words, or even to ask children to
- 2. Practice II – Camila Roldán & Federico Ramonda explain what they have to do in their mother tongue. This will show if the students have understood. E- Creating lesson stages Number the following ways of regaining the initiative in a noisy class in order of personal preference and give your opinion of their effectiveness: The teacher blows a whistle. (4) The teacher claps his/her hands. (1) The teacher speaks quietly in the hope that students will quieten down to listen. (3) The teacher raises his/her hand, expecting students to raise their hands, too, and quieten down. (2) The teacher shouts at students to be quiet. (7) The teacher stands on a table and shouts at students to be quiet. (6) The teacher stands in front of the class with arms folded, fixing the students with a baleful stare. The teacher waits. (5) F- Different seating arrangements What is the best seating arrangement for the following situations? a- A team game with a class of forty. SEPARATE TABLES b- A class discussion with fifteen students. HORSESHOE c- Pairwork in a group of thirty students. SEPARATE TABLES d- A reading task in a group of ten. ORDERLY ROWS e- Students design an advertisement in groups. SEPARATE TABLES f- Students all listen to an audio track. ORDERLY ROWS g- The teacher explains a grammar point. ORDERLY ROWS G- Different student groupings 1- Make an A&D chart for whole class, groupwork, pairwork and solowork.
- 3. Practice II – Camila Roldán & Federico Ramonda Student Grouping Characteristics Advantages Disadvantages Whole Class Teacher works with the class as a whole group. Students focus on the teacher & task in hand. Useful for presenting information & controlled practice. Dynamic & motivating. Builds a great sense of belonging. Fewer individual opportunities to speak or reflect. Less effective to encourage individual contributions & discussion. Groupwork & Pairwork Students work in pairs or in small groups. It fosters cooperative activity. Students participate more; they have more chance to experiment with language and work without pressure. It gives the teacher more opportunities to focus attention on particular students. Students may not like the people they are grouped or paired with. One student may dominate while others stay silent. Solowork Students work on their own. Students work at their own speed and have more thinking time. They are concerned about their own needs and progress. 2- What is the best grouping for these activities, do you think? Put W, P, G or S. a- Students choose one of three alternatives when faced with an imaginary moral dilemma. (P)
- 4. Practice II – Camila Roldán & Federico Ramonda b- Students design a website for a school or special interest group. (G) c- Students listen to an audio recording of a conversation. (S) d- Students practice saying sentences with the present perfect ( I’ve lived here for six years’, ‘He studied here for six months’) (W) (S) e- Students prepare a talk/presentation on a subject of their choice. (P) (S) f- Students repeat words and phrases to make sure they can say them correctly. (W) g- Students work out the answers to a reading comprehension. (S) h- Students write a dialogue between a traveler and an immigration official. (P) i- Students write a paragraph about themselves. (S) j- The teacher explains the rule for the pronunciation of ‘s’ plurals (‘pins’, ‘cups’, ‘brushes’) (W) Chapter 14: What if? A- Students are all at different levels 1- Rewrite these sentences so that they reflect your own opinion: a- Mixed-ability classes present the teacher with insuperable problems. Mixed-ability classes represent a challenge to the teacher. This does not mean they are an unavoidable obstacle. He/she needs to be aware of the differences between students and find ways to exploit each one’s potential. b- The only thing you can do with a mixed-ability class is ignore the problem. Ignoring the problem is not the best option as it will remain present. There are many plausible solutions such as using different materials or different activities with the same material or even asking stronger students to help weaker ones. It all depends on how resourceful and creative the teacher is. c- All classes are mixed-ability classes. Most of the classes at school are mixed-ability classes, except perhaps at schools where students are divided according to their level. 2- How would you approach these situations with a mixed-ability group?
- 5. Practice II – Camila Roldán & Federico Ramonda a- You want to use the interview with Diana Hayden on page 141 with your students. USE DIFFERENT MATERIALS/TECHNOLOGY b- You want students to write a ghost story, having studied story telling, and having been given some ‘ghost’ vocabulary and phrases. DO DIFFERENT TASKS WITH THE SAME MATERIAL/TECHNOLOGY c- You want students to study ways of agreeing and disagreeing – and later use them, if possible, in some kind of discussion. DO DIFFERENT TASKS WITH THE SAME MATERIAL/TECHNOLOGY d- You have a poem which you want your students to look at. You can refer to ‘Fire and Ice’ on page 108 if you want. USE DIFFERENT MATERIALS/ TECHNOLOGY e- Three of your students are making it clear that they’re finding your classes too easy for them. USE THE STUDENTS f- You want to hand back some written work and deal with the mistakes that you found when correcting. USE THE STUDENTS B- The class is very big 1- Complete the chart. In the first column write things you can do with small classes (ten or under) but you can’t with big classes (forty or plus). In the second column write things you can do with big classes which you can’t do with small ones. Small Classes Big classes Individual repetition & controlled practice Use chorus repetition – reaction. Whole class work (may be with worksheets or on the board) Use of worksheets for individual work Whole class work, individual work, groupwork and pairwork. Lots of groupwork and pairwork The board is easily seen. The voice is heard without inconvenience. Maybe the teacher would need a beamer or a bigger structure to write on. As regards voice if the group is too big, some teachers use a microphone. 2- In big classes, what special considerations need to be taken into account for the following?
- 6. Practice II – Camila Roldán & Federico Ramonda a- The teacher’s voice: It needs to be loud and clear enough so that everyone (even the students at the back) hear you. b- The teacher’s place in the class: You should move around the class if there is space but the most important aspect in big classes is that they have to see you. You cannot be sitting the whole classroom because students at the back will not see you and will maybe not hear you. c- The teacher’s board work/overheard projector use: You need to write big enough so that everyone is able to see and your handwriting should be clear. d- Using the tape recorder: The sound needs to be as clear as possible and the volume is important too. If you use a computer or some other device to play the audio tracks, you could use some loudspeakers. C- Students keep using their own language 1- What action can teachers take if students use their own language in class all the time? List as many things as you can think of. 2- In which of the following situations, if any, would you be happy (or at least not unhappy) for students to use their own language? a- Students are working in pairs to practice a dialogue. UNHAPPY b- Students are debating the issue of whether birth control should be imposed on the world to prevent overpopulation. HAPPY c- Students are working in pairs to solve a reading puzzle. NOT UNHAPPY d- Students are checking that they understand the instructions for an activity. HAPPY e- Students are doing a group writing task. NOT UNHAPPY f- Students are taking part in a business meeting simulation. HAPPY D- Students don’t do homework Write 1 (most favourite) to 9 (least favourite) in Column A (Me as a teacher) and in Column B (Me as a student). A B Homework Task 8 8 Students do a fill-in exercise, choosing between ‘going to’ and ‘will’.
- 7. Practice II – Camila Roldán & Federico Ramonda 1 4 Students interview residents/tourists in the street and bring the results to the next lesson. 9 9 Students learn a list of words by heart to be tested by the teacher in the next lesson. 2 1 Students prepare a presentation which they will give (individually) in the next lesson. 5 5 Students prepare roles for the next week’s role-play. 6 6 Students read a text and answer multiple-choice questions. 7 7 Students write six sentences using the past continuous. 3 3 Students write a composition about the environment. 4 2 Students write a publicity leaflet based on something in the coursebook. E- Students are uncooperative 1- How many ways are there for students to be uncooperative in class? List them in order where the first one is most difficult for the teacher to deal with and the last is the least challenging for the teacher. Students misbehave. Students do not pay attention to you. Students remain silent. Students work with something that belongs to other subject. Students do not speak in English. 2- What might teachers and students write in this contract form? THE LANGUAGE LEARNING CONTRACT TEACHER LEARNER As your teacher I will respect your learning pace and I will explain to you as many times as you need. As a learner I will commit to the subject and make my best effort to learn. As your teacher I expect that you As a learner I expect to be taken
- 8. Practice II – Camila Roldán & Federico Ramonda participate in class and use English as much as you can. into account and to have the possibility to talk whenever I want to express my opinion. As your teacher I expect you to be responsible. This means completing all of the activities worked in class and the ones which are for homework. As a learner I expect that my needs are considered. Also, I would like to know in advance when we are near an exam, I do not like surprise tests. F- Students don’t want to talk Copy and complete the chart with things you could do to make reluctant speakers talk – and say what possible consequences are (both positive and negative). ACTION CONSEQUENCES Join in yourself in order to try to stimulate discussion. It might relax students; on the other hand students may end up listening more than talking. Use pairwork They may relax but they may also use their L1 Speak nonsense Students may react either laughing and it relaxes the environment or reply what you said and start talking. G- Students don’t understand the audio track 1- What problems do students have (in general) when listening to audio tracks in class? How can you help them overcome these difficulties? They do not understand every word – This is not necessary of course but many students think that if they do not understand some words, they will not understand the message. As teachers, we need to emphasize the idea that the message is more than just the amount of words as we also communicate through paralinguistic features. Besides, it is a good piece of advice telling them to focus in certain words such as nouns or verbs which are the ones that carry meaning.
- 9. Practice II – Camila Roldán & Federico Ramonda The speakers go too fast – This is the most likely thing to happen as students are not accustomed to the language, its speed and rhythm. We need to consider this carefully when using authentic materials. A useful tool is to play the audio track entirely and then, for the activities, pause it each time the students need to complete something. They do not understand the topic – They may understand words but be unable to connect them and fully understand what the text is about. In this case it is important that the teacher explains a bit what the listening is going to be about, before actually listening. A concept to have in mind here is the students’ background knowledge. It is useful to find out what the students know about the topic and share it so that each of them has more or less an idea of the words they are likely to hear. This helps them to deduce meanings more easily. (Use predictions – Activate schema)